Rochester Uses PGA Championship As Bait For New Businesses

Economic developers in Rochester, NY, site of the August 11-17 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club, "are using PGA tickets to entice eight site selectors — the consultants who help businesses decide where to locate — to the area," according to Tyler & Grady of the ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, who noted "once here, they'll be wined and dined and toured around, in hopes they'll recommend the area to a corporation looking for a new home." In "exchange for plane and hotel fare, meals and tickets to the tournament's weekend rounds, the site selectors have agreed to take a bus tour of the region on Friday." Empire State Development Regional Dir Jack Kinnicutt said, "The PGA affords us an event of such magnitude we're able to use it as a draw for people who might otherwise not come here." Kinnicutt said that sponsoring agencies "will spend about $70,000 on the weekend." The GA Dept. of Commerce hosts an annual recruitment event at the Masters, which has "led to $3[B] in investment" in the state (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 8/3).